


Taiga and Tatsuya's Battle Cry

by Aisara_SeirinNo17_Iwasaki



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Childhood Memories, Crying, Fights, Memories, Repressed Memories, Screaming, Singing, Words You Can't Take Back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:42:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aisara_SeirinNo17_Iwasaki/pseuds/Aisara_SeirinNo17_Iwasaki
Summary: While waiting for Taiga to come home, Alex recounts that there was another song that Tatsuya and Taiga used to sing in their youth, besides My Demons. Tatsuya denies this until Alex sings the first line. Then, everything that Tatsuya had pushed back in the very depths of his mind comes flooding back...bold means transitionsbold/italics means Englishitalics means song lyrics
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	Taiga and Tatsuya's Battle Cry

**Author's Note:**

> No, you're not dreaming. I'm posting this story. Um, hey again! I know, I know. It's been a really long time since my last update and I swear, I'm trying to finish the others that I have planned. I'm almost finished with them and I hope to get them up soon but only time will tell. So, without a long update, I recently re-watched Kuroko No Basuke after completing my collection with the addition of season 3, and this was born. So yeah...I also plan to revisit my other Kuroko works I didn't finish and get to them at some point but like I said, only time will tell. Alright, time to shut up and let you enjoy. :)
> 
> Song I used was this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWAhunhZJc (Battle Cry by Skillet) *listening to this really sets the mood of the story while reading)

"There was an extra song that you two used to sing aside from My Demons..." Alex sighs as she gently lays back on the pillows of Taiga's bed. Taiga wasn't home yet and both her and Tatsuya were relaxing in his room, waiting for him to get home. Tatsuya looked over at her in confusion. "What? There was only the one. The one I taught to Taiga, the one he sang for his school's talent show that year." Tatsuya says and Alex shakes her head.

" _ **You're on the edge of giving up, you know I feel it too...**_ "

Alex gently sings in English and Tatsuya's eyes widen. In that very moment, everything came flooding back. Those memories he had worked so hard to repress when he was in his teens. Those memories of better times, better days... Those days...he couldn't get back.

***Flashback...***

"You're the edge of giving up, you know I feel it too..." Young Taiga sang to himself as he waited for Tatsuya to meet him at the court. There was no sign of the other kids who typically came to this court and his teacher wasn't going to be showing up until later that afternoon. He went to shoot but missed, something he did frequently. He sighed, frustrated, before he kicked the ball. It rolled at full speed over to the fence, hit it hard and sending a noise over to Taiga's ears, before it began rolling back at a different angle. He sighed heavily before he heard the ball bouncing against the hard concrete. He looked over to see his best friend and 'brother', Himuro Tatsuya.

_'It won't be long because, I'm with you.'_

"Tatsuya!" Taiga exclaimed happily, he was always happy to see Tatsuya and by the look on the slightly older boys lips, the feeling was mutual. "Hey, what's up!" Tatsuya greeted and Taiga slumped. "I dunno. I'm just in a really bad mood." Taiga says and Tatsuya frowned at his best friends discomfort. "It's okay. I'm sure it will get better..." Tatsuya offers before the sky above them darkened. Both boys looked up to see the clouds an angry, dark grey color.

_'Bring the fire, bring the smoke, bring the rain. We will bend but we will never break'_

It only took a couple more minutes before both boys were hiding out underneath a building while it poured heavily. The two of them only looked at each other and laughed, passing the ball back and forth. "I guess you don't need me after all..." A voice broke their laughter only for them to look up and see their teacher clad in a heavy coat to protect her from the pouring rain complete with a hood. Her glasses were still covered with water droplets nonetheless. "Alex!" They yelled in unison and she smiled at her boys. "Taiga, Tatsuya." She says back as she gets down to their level. Instantly, both young boys run over to her and she pulls them into a tight hug, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. A loud crash of thunder broke their tender moment before Taiga sighed loudly. "What now? It's raining and you came all this way..." He says and Tatsuya only laughs.

_'If we believe, we can't loose'_

"Don't worry boys, I've got that covered." Alex says as she holds out both of her hands. "We gotta make a run for it though." She says and they nod. "What idea did you have?" Tatsuya asks. "Yeah, what's the idea Alex?" Taiga asks and she only laughs. "There's an indoor court not far from here. If we run, we can make it to the station." She says and both boys nod again before taking her hands, Taiga on left and Tatsuya on right. There was another crash of thunder before...

_'Even mountains will move'_

The three of them started to run towards the train station, both Tatsuya and Taiga getting soaked on the way there. Still, they continued to run. They finally made to the station and both boys collapsed on the bench, out of breath. Alex only smiled at her boys, the ball tightly under her arm now. She glanced at the clock, looking at what time it was. Nodding to herself, she looked back over to see Taiga smiling brightly at Tatsuya, and Tatsuya listening intently. "What's up boys?" She asked and Taiga turned to face her. "I heard a new song the other day and I was singing it for Tatsuya!" He says and she smiles, sitting next to them. "Well, don't let me stop you. Go ahead, continue." She urges and Taiga nods before clearing his throat. He, then, began to sing where he left off.

**_"It's my faith, it's my life. This is our battle cry. They can't take us down, if we stand our ground. If we live, if we die, We will shout out...our battle cry!"_ **

"That's a nice song, Taiga. Where'd you hear it?" Alex asks and Taiga shrugs. "Dunno..." He says and she laughs before Tatsuya puts his hands on Taiga's shoulders, startling him. "If we learn the lyrics, we can sing that too. Just like the other one." Tatsuya hears himself saying and Taiga smiles brightly. "Yeah!" He says and Tatsuya watched Taiga proceed to sing the rest of the song, with Alex clapping along with the beat and himself, listening intently to the lyrics.

***End of Flashback...***

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa. Can you hear it?'_

Tatsuya felt the tear falling before Alex wiped it with the pad of her thumb. He could still hear the words to Taiga's song in his mind. He choked down a sob before he got up from the bed. "Tatsuya, where are you going?" Alex asked as he walked to the door. "I'm just going down to the local court. I'll be right back." He says and before Alex could say anything else, Tatsuya was gone. She sighed before looking up at the ceiling. She knew there was nothing she could do, this had to be sorted out between them.

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa. Can you feel it?'_

Tatsuya shrugged on his jacket before leaving Taiga's apartment and rushing down the stairs, ignoring any neighbors in the nearby area. He pulled up his hood before he walked over to said court. He felt more flashes of memories he thought that he had come to terms come flooding back. He closed his eyes but it did no good. He shook his head a few times before continuing. Luckily for him, there was an abandoned ball in that court. He picked it up and just shot it. He knew he was too tense to make it, as it only bounced on the rim and landed away from the basket. He cursed to himself before he heard a soft voice say,

"Himuro-san?"

Tatsuya jumped before he turned around to see Taiga's teammate, Kuroko Tetsuya, standing there. " ** _A-Ah, sorry! I didn't know you were here!_** " Tatsuya said in English by mistake before cursing at himself in his head. But Kuroko shook his head in understanding anyways, knowing what he meant to say by his gestures alone.

_'It seems like no one knows, how you've been feelin.'_

"Himuro-san, did you come here to practice with Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko asked and Tatsuya shook his head. "Oh, I thought I saw him earlier but I wasn't sure..." Kuroko's voice trailed off in his head. More flashes of memories he didn't want to resurface came back, ones that he had told nobody about, and he closed his eyes before getting down on his knees and putting both hands on his head.

_'You're hidin' all your hopes...'_

Kuroko went to try and console him but only got pushed away. Finally his mind game him a break and with that break, he took the time to get up and run. Run far away from Kuroko Tetsuya and that court. "TATSUYA!" He heard a voice say and it briefly made him stop but he shook his head and kept running.

_'You've stopped believin'...'_

"That wasn't Taiga, that wasn't him..." Tatsuya was repeating to himself before he finally stopped running. He was in the middle of a park, right next to a fountain that he would've run straight into if he hadn't stopped in time. "Taiga, just forget me. You don't need a friend like me. You don't need someone who hurt you in your life. You don't need someone who destroyed something precious as a way to destroy something over a stupid competition. You don't need someone who hurt you after bringing up a song that was long forgotten. You are a much stronger light that deserves much better than me..." Tatsuya whispered to himself, the tears coming out now. He buried his face in his hands and let himself cry, regretting everything...down to the point where he regretted even meeting Taiga in the first place.

_'It's not over, we're one step away'_

"Tatsuya..." He heard Taiga's voice say and he looked up but the redhead was nowhere to be found. "Taiga?" He asked and there was no response from anyone. "Y'know Tatsuya, I'd love to have a brother like you." Taiga's voice said again and Tatsuya looked around frantically but still didn't see him. "If anything happens, I know it for sure." He heard Taiga's voice say again. "TAIGA!" Tatsuya yelled, knowing the redhead would never hear him from this far away. He saw in his head that same day where they learned the song together.

"After all...we will bend but we will never break." Taiga's voice said for the final time before Tatsuya opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He screamed silently for at least five solid minutes before the voices finally stopped. He looked up at the scenery only to hear footsteps coming towards the park. Without thinking, Tatsuya quickly ran to the nearest bathroom and hid out in there. He peered out after a moment to see that there was nothing to worry about. Taiga, had not heard him scream his name.

**(Meanwhile...)**

_'I believe, we can't loose'_

"That was DEFINITELY Tsuya-chan!" Aisara says as she looked around. "Ai, have you found him yet?" Taiga asked, knowing too well the sound of his brother's voice and it sounded more distressed than ever. "No! I don't see him anywhere Tai-chan." She says and he sighs. "Kuroko said he ran this way." Taiga says and Aisara nods. "I know, you said that you briefly saw him, right?" She asks and he nods this time. She walked over to him and sat down on the bench, patting the seat next to her. Taiga reluctantly took the seat next to her and she leaned over onto his arm.

"Hey, we'll find him. I promise." Aisara says. "Who are looking for, Aisa-chin?" A voice broke their concentration. Both Aisara and Taiga looked up at the voice and smiled when they saw who was standing there. If anyone in this world knew where Himuro Tatsuya could be found other than Taiga and Alex, it was him for sure.

_'Even mountains will move'_

"Saki-chan!" Aisara exclaims and the purple haired giant tilted his head in confusion. "Murasakibara, have you seen Tatsuya around this area at all?" Taiga asks and there was a moment of silence before he shook his head. "No. I haven't seen Muro-chin since he went over to your house. I thought Muro-chin was still there." Murasakibara says and Taiga sighs. "Should we head back to your house then, Tai-chan?" Aisara asks and Taiga shrugs. "I guess so...they were waiting for me after all..." Taiga says as he gets to his feet. Aisara does the same but he stops suddenly and she runs into him with a pained sound. "If he was still at my house, then why would we have heard him here?" Taiga asks suddenly and she gets back to her feet before a light bulb goes off over her own head.

"You're right. He HAS to be around here." Aisara says. "Should we split up?" Murasakibara asks and Aisara nods. "We have to. Saki-chan, you stay around this area. Tai-chan will search with Kuro-chan back over near the court where they saw him and I will go back around towards your house. We meet back here if we find him or if we don't find him in ten minutes." Aisara says, taking charge, and everyone nods. Taiga took off towards where Kuroko still was, practicing and Aisara took off back towards Taiga's house. However, Atsushi stayed in place.

_'It's my faith, it's my life. This is our battle cry.'_

Tatsuya looked out again to see that Atsushi was still there. He cursed internally before gently slipping out of the bathroom. He kept close to the walls and went around the brick building, only to see Aisara's red hair retreating. He froze in place, as to not rise her attention. He took one step and the leaves crunched under his sneaker. She stopped. " ** _Fuck!_** " he cursed in English before he moved back around that corner he was at before just as she turned around. "Tsuya-chan?" He heard her ask. She started to walk back before,

"Ai-chan?!?"

"Dai-kun?" She asked back, turning back around to her original point. "Ai-chan, what are you doing out here?" The voice of Aomine Daiki being his savior, ironically. "I'm looking for Tsuya-chan. Tai-chan thought he saw him and Kuro-chan definitely saw him but he disappeared. Tai-chan's really worried..." She says and Tatsuya felt his heart ache for a moment just hearing the worry and ache in her heart. "Tsuya-chan?" He asks. "Tatsuya. Himuro Tatsuya on Saki-chan's team? You know, Tai-chan's best friend from the states." She says and Aomine makes a noise of understanding after a moment. "Oh, him. The dude with half of his hair covering his face." Aomine says and Aisara sighs. "Yes, him. You've met him, I don't know why you're having trouble remembering him." Aisara says before Aomine only shrugs. "Where did you guys last see him?" He asks and she crosses her arms over her chest. "The court down the street from here." She says. "Tiger was over there with Tetsu a moment ago so where were you headed?" He asked. "Back to Tai-chan's apartment. Maybe he ran back there?" She says and Aomine nods. "Alright, I'll go with you." He says and she thanks him before she disappears.

_'They can't take us down, if we stand our ground'_

Tatsuya could feel his resolve breaking more as he resisted the urge to scream. If he screamed now, he'd alert everyone. He sat himself down, determined to not be found until he deemed it to be time to be found, and leaned his head against the wall. He could feel those memories coming back again. Those same memories he had pushed in the very back of his mind. The one's he never wanted to resurface...the ones...where he hurt Taiga the most...

_'If we live, if we die. We will shout out...our battle cry'_

Tatsuya remembers physically fighting Taiga at one point. He remembers throwing the first punch with a scream of Taiga's name. Then, the two of them went at it like animals in a cage. It wasn't until Alex came running and physically pulled Taiga off of him that he saw the damage he was doing. Taiga was bruised and a couple of the hits were bleeding. He looked down at himself and saw every bruise and spot of blood. He wiped his bloodied lip as Alex pleaded with Taiga to stop and explain why the hell they were fighting in the first place. To be fair, Tatsuya didn't even remember. He remembers gently pushing Alex back and continuing the fight. He busted Taiga's lip open and pushed him hard against the chain-link fence. This continued again before Alex pulled them off of each other. At that moment, she made Taiga go home and then ordered Tatsuya. Both glared at each other before doing as they were told. Tatsuya kept straight ahead but he definitely didn't miss Alex's crying as they walked away.

Tatsuya only buried himself further within himself as he re-lived the moment where he hurt Taiga the most. The one that not even Alex knows about...

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa. Can you hear it?'_

***Flashback***

"Hey Tatsuya!" Teenage Taiga yelled out and Tatsuya re-lived himself looking up with a scowl on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?" Taiga asked concerned. "It's all been a lie." Tatsuya shakes his head. _'Don't do this...'_ He pleads to himself. "What has? what's gotten into you?" Taiga asks. _'Please...Taiga's a good person...'_ "Everything. Being with you, our friendship. You being my younger brother. Those songs we sang, the moments we had with Alex. They were nothing but a lie..." He says and Taiga takes a step back. "T-Tatsuya..." Taiga says with a shaky breath. _'Don't! You'll break him!'_ "Why do you think I hit you that day?" Tatsuya says, taking a step forward to Taiga's second step back. _'_ _NO!'_ "You've been nothing but a burden to me." Tatsuya could hear the breaking sound of their bond and Taiga's heart so loud that it was deafening.

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa. Can you feel it?'_

He felt it before it happened as replayed Taiga pushing him back this time. There were tears in his crimson red eyes as he glared at the ground. When he was looking in, he had matching tears. When he was in the moment, however, he glared back at Taiga. "If I was such a burden, then WHY did you stay with me?!?" Taiga yelled. "YOU wouldn't leave ME alone. There were SO MANY times where YOU annoyed me." Tatsuya snarled and Taiga snarled back. "YOU still continued to come around. YOU could've EASILY left me if you didn't want to be around!" Taiga yelled. "YOU would've thrown a fit without me. Face it Taiga, you're-

_'DON'T SAY IT!'_

"...nothing without me..." He watched himself finished and his cheek pulsed with pain as he watched himself get hit with all of Taiga's strength. He collapsed to the ground, the pain intensifying with each hit he saw himself take. They finally stopped after hit six and Tatsuya finally grabbed his hand. "That's enough. We'll settle this tomorrow. Like I said before, don't you DARE run away from me. I will find you and you WILL pay for hitting me." Tatsuya only pushed Taiga back but Taiga was knocked off balance and pushed into the chain-link fence, with a loud sound. "There's one thing I forgot to mention..." Tatsuya said, getting to his feet. He pulled their ring on the broken chain out of his pocket and let it fall to the ground, with a loud clatter. "I can't save you from your demons and your battle cry will NEVER be loud enough." and with that, Tatsuya left a sobbing Taiga where he had fallen without looking back.

***End of flashback***

_'Let it rise, like a prayer in the night'_

He looked down only to see that his ring had fallen to the ground. He quickly wiped his tears before he picked it up. He re-fastened the chain and slid the necklace back on. He clutched it in his hands tightly, feeling the very pain he had put Taiga through all those years ago. 'Taiga...never deserved me. He always deserved better...' Tatsuya thought to himself and he felt it happening before it did...

_'Shout for love, shout for hope. Let 'em here us!'_

"TAIGA!!!" He screamed, letting everyone hear him this time. People around him looked at Tatsuya like he was crazy. There were footsteps coming to where he was when he finally came out of hiding. "Tsuya-chan!!!" Aisara yelled, running back towards the park. "Himuro-san!" Aomine's voice was right next to hers. "Muro-chin?!?" Atsushi's voice not too far away from the parks edge. Tatsuya felt himself smiling when he heard the last two people's voices.

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa'_

"Himuro-san!!!" The sound of Kuroko Tetsuya's voice meant one thing to Tatsuya. It put an even brighter smile on his face as he felt the tears still pour down. He began to walk over to the very fountain he had almost fallen into earlier as the very voice he wanted to hear screaming his name.

_'oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa'_

"TATSUYA!!!" Taiga's voice...it wasn't an imitation anymore. Taiga was running this way with Kuroko right behind him. He could see Aisara in view now with Aomine right next to her. Atsushi wasn't running like the other four but he was also walking over to him. With that in mind, Tatsuya hoisted himself onto the fountain's concrete edge. He closed his eyes as he stood on top of said fountain's concrete edge, eyes closed as he took a few more deep breaths. He let those memories he buried come to life again. He remembered befriending Taiga. He remembered meeting Alex. He remembered singing My Demons while playing basketball. He remembered teaching Taiga some basketball before Alex came into the picture. He remembers running in the rain with Taiga. He remembers the day they got the very same ring that was still around his neck. He remembers everything and he'd be lying if he didn't feel the tear that fell down as the bad memories also came back, all those times he tortured Taiga just because he had changed and had to grow up much too fast...

"Muro-chin?" Atsushi's voice was somewhere near him. "Tsuya-chan?" Aisara's voice came from somewhere near Tatsuya. "Himuro-san?" Aomine and Kuroko's voices said together before...

"Tatsuya..."

Taiga's voice...finally...there it was. It was real. He could hear it loud and clear. Another tear fell as he began to sing the words to the song that Taiga introduced him to...the very song he chose...to never remember again until today...

**_"I believe, we can't loose"_ **

"Tatsuya..." Taiga says in surprise, there was no denying it. Taiga was definitely standing there. More tears streamed down his shut eyes but his voice never broke.

_**"Even mountains will move. It's our faith, it's our life. This is our battle cry"** _

"Tai-chan?" Aisara's voice asked as there were sniffles heard. "Iwasaki-sempai..." Kuroko's voice was heard as he had walked over to her and Taiga. "Kagami-kun." Kuroko said at the same time as... "Aisa-chan." Alex's voice could be heard. "Alex! Hey, you're here too." Aisara says and Alex smiles. "But, do you know why both Tsuya and Tai-chan are crying?" Aisara asked and Alex nods. "Just listen..."

_**"They can't take us down, if we stand our ground. If we live, if we die..."** _

"Tatsuya forgot all about this song. He forgot everything when he was a teenager up until he fought your team last year. Taiga was the one who showed it to him..." Alex says and Aisara gasped. "Why would he forget everything just like that, though?" Aomine asked. "Tatsuya had to grow up too fast when he was younger. Whereas Taiga was on his own most of the time, Tatsuya wasn't. Tatsuya had to let everything go all those years ago. Not to mention the overwhelming jealously that Tatsuya felt. Tatsuya was the one who taught Taiga about basketball all those years ago, even before I got there." Alex explained and tears were welled up in Aisara's eyes while Aomine looked in surprise. Even he couldn't deny that it wasn't a sad story. He thought he had it bad growing up, but Tatsuya's and even Taiga's himself, had a more terrible story for sure. Everyone watched as Tatsuya finally opened his brown eyes, staring right back into Taiga's crimson red ones.

_**"We will shout out...our battle cry..."** _

"You...never forgot it..." Taiga sniffled, his English sounding more gurgled due to the crying. Tatsuya's eyes kept locked with Taiga's as he finished the final notes of the song, but not before extending his hand out to Taiga. Taiga was surprised for a moment before joining Tatsuya on the fountain to finish the final lines of the song together.

TT: _**oooh-oooh-ooh~who**_

HT: _**Can you hear it**_ (KT: _**can you hear it**_ )

TT: _**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa**_

HT: _**Can you feel it**_ (KT: _**can you feel it**_ )

TT: _**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa**_

HT: _**Can you hear it**_ (KT: _**I** ** _c_ an feel it**_)

TT: _**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa, Can you feel it**_

TT: _**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa**_

_**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa** _

_**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa** _

_**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa** _

_**oooh-oooh-ooh~whoa** _

"Taiga...I'm so sorry..." Tatsuya said before Taiga pulled Tatsuya into the tightest hug ever. "Taiga?!" He asked and Taiga shook his head. "Tatsuya...I thought...you'd forgotten all about my song. I thought...you would never remember..." Taiga cried and Tatsuya smiled before hugging his brother back. "I love you...Tatsuya..." Taiga said. "I love you too... Taiga..." Tatsuya finished before they separated and Tatsuya looked down. Aisara was in Alex's arms, crying into her chest and Kuroko was next to Aomine, both having tears in their eyes after hearing that story. Atsushi, though, was standing right next to the fountain.

"Muro-chin, Kaga-chin. Come down from there before you both fall." Atsushi said but his semi-tough demeanor was cracking because he also had tears in his eyes. Atsushi extended his hands to both of them before both accepted them. They got down from the fountain's edge and immediately Alex walked over to Tatsuya while Aisara ran over to Taiga, crying.

_**"Welcome back...Tatsuya..."**_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read even if it wasn't something you all were expecting. I'm sorry, I'm working my hardest. I'll be posting as soon as I can. Saranghe and annyeong!!!!


End file.
